The longtime superintendent of Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens pleaded guilty Tuesday to two charges in connection with a $4.5 million kickback scheme at the racetrack, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Steven Cross, 53, of Hollywood, who was Calder’s superintendent for 16 years, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud and tax evasion for the plot, which was carried out between 1998 and 2008, according to the newspaper. It reported that he split about $2 million with coconspirator Israel Campos, 64, of Miami and about $1.5 million with Mark Cantrell, 45, of Boca Raton, and that he received another $1 million in additional kickbacks from various contractors.
Cross, also known as Ira Sapirman, ordered chemicals to maintain the race course grounds from Campos and Cantrell, who worked for companies that sold chemicals to businesses. They each submitted fake invoices and delivery tickets to the racetrack for chemicals that were never actually delivered, according to authorities.
None of the chemicals Cantrell billed to Calder were delivered, and about 80 percent of the chemicals Campos billed were never delivered, according to the Department of Justice.
When U.S. District Judge William Zloch asked Cross why he did it, he answered, “The money,” the Sun Sentinel reported.
Cross, who was Calder Race Course’s superintendent from 1992 to 2008, told the judge that he’s now employed at Hialeah Park Race Course, the paper said.
He and his attorney had no comment after Tuesday’s hearing, the Sun Sentinel said.
Local
He will be sentenced on May 22. Meantime, Campos and Cantrell have also made plea deals with prosecutors and are due to be in court next week, according to the Sun Sentinel.
